1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to the computer generation and writing of data storage medium, particularly large sets of Compact Discs (CDs) and most commonly Writable Compact Discs (Compact Discs-Writable, or CD-Ws).
The present invention more specifically relates to a system for the closed-loop automated, controlled, fail-safe and efficient batch-mode computer-mainframe-processing of data so as to create CD images, with the CD images then being automatically recorded on physical CD-Ws with such positive identity control that the CD-Ws may later be securely remotely distributed and archived.
2. Description of the Prior Art
2.1 General Background
The present invention will be seen to concern a new system for replacing the distribution of data on paper or microfiche/microfilm with the distribution of data on Compact Discs (CDs). In a typical operation regularly distributing data on microfiche/microfilm, the new system is directed to saving tens of thousands of dollars annually, to increase worker productivity and to improve the performance of the distribution system.
Paper and microfiche have served us well for years because these media are inexpensive, convenient and readily available. The Compact Disc (CD) is the first and perhaps only medium which is truly competitive against paper and film.
To be competitive a new medium must be cost-effective. Each CD-Writable disc medium (CD-W, as hereinafter explained) costs under $20, and can hold the equivalent of over 400 fiche (or the equivalent of over 100,000 pages of print), circa 1994.
To be competitive a new medium must be convenient. Paper is the most convenient media ever invented since it requires no "reader" mechanism and "writers" are readily available. Film is relatively convenient since readers are generally available and reader printers can produce hard copy output. CD is as convenient as film, since CD readers for PCs are available in any computer store--yet CD has the dramatic benefit of being able to deliver data in machine readable format for use on PCs. This means the data can be reprinted, and reprocessed.
To be competitive a new medium must be compatible. Paper comes in standard sizes and so does microfiche. The standards for these media are well developed and it is simply assumed that one can interchange data on paper and on microfiche without compatibility concerns. Just so, the CD is also fully standardized. Through the International Standards Organization the ISO 9660 CD format is universally recognized and used. This means that an ISO 9660 CD can be played in a CD drive in virtually any PC. CD will likely be the next data distribution medium because it combines these three key requirements for success: cost-effectiveness, convenience and compatibility. CD will be seen to be the data distribution medium of the present invention.
2.1.1 Summary of the Capabilities of CD-Writable Technology
Compact Disc (CD) and Compact Disc-Writable (CD-W) technology is poised to fulfill the years of promises of a new storage medium: it is inexpensive, convenient, compatible storage which can be relied on for years to come. After many false starts and disappointments with other media, CDs appear to possess all the elements required for success.
These elements include cost effectiveness. Because of the huge consumer volumes generated by CD audio the underlying cost of the technology has been driven down dramatically in the early 1990's.
These elements include convenience. With the capacity to store over 400 fiche per CD, combined with machine readability, CD promises to be as convenient as paper. Even hand held CD readers are now available, circa 1994.
These elements include compatibility. With full international standards in place and thousands of new titles issued every year, the CD standard is one of the strongest in the industry.
The applications for CD are wide ranging, from entertainment to publishing to archiving documents. Until recently all CDs were made by pressing, a process ideally suited to the inexpensive mass production of discs. This replication process is widely employed today in the audio industry, for software distribution, and publication. With the advent of CD-Writable (CD-W) (next explained) it is now possible to make unique CDs in low volume for use in internal data distribution, replacing or augmenting paper or microfiche.
2.1.2 Summary of System Requirements, and the Capabilities of CD and CD-W
An "industrial strength", type of CD production and distribution system is required for enterprise, or business, data. Such a system would logically use the existing host computer of the business for data preparation. If this is an IBM.RTM. computer operating under the MVS.RTM. operating system (IBM and MVS are registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation), then the standard Bus & Tag channel of such existing computer would logically be attached to a CD writer system. A system, and system software, to subsequently retrieve the data written on the CDs might logically be a PC-based system running, for example, under a Windows.RTM., or DOS, PC operating system. (Windows is a registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.) Such a system would need to create many CDs during a single night for distribution to users the next business day.
Unlike PC or workstation-based CD writing systems, which due to processing and writing constraints can produce only a few unique CDs in a single shift, the required enterprise production system should be configured with multiple CD writers. Only thus could the power of a mainframe computer be used to process all the data needed to drive them.
Users would desirably receive their data daily on CD media, completely self-contained and ready for use. Retrievals would be done on users' PCs, where the users could also cut and paste data to other Windows applications to generate correspondence, or create spreadsheets.
Such an enterprise system would desirably be at one tenth or less the cost of microfiche, while offering all the benefits of a standardized CD medium.
2.1.3 Overview of CD Technology
CD has been called the greatest advance in publishing since Gutenberg. Familiar to everyone as a medium for the distribution of music, CD is now delivering audio, text and video to the mass market. It is estimated that over 11 million CD drives will be in use by the end of 1994, and the number of titles published on CD doubles every year.
The appeal of CD as a mechanism for delivering data, whether audio, text or video, lies in the unique combination of benefits provided by the technology.
A primary benefit is capacity. A single CD holds about 600 megabytes of data. This is the equivalent of over 400 3 1/2 inch floppy diskettes. Many software distributors--including IBM Corporation, Microsoft Corporation, Lotus Development Corporation, Corel Corporation, Sun Microsystems, Inc., Borland Corporation and Novell Corporation--routinely distribute their product on CD instead of floppy diskettes. CD distribution allows the manufacturer to deliver a single piece of media, and makes it easier for the user to install the software. It also reduces the cost of distribution both in terms of media and associated expenses such as packaging and postage or freight.
Another benefit is longevity. CD media is inherently more stable than magnetic media, both in storage and in use. Minor scratches, dirt, dust, magnetic fields or fingerprints don't damage the underlying data. Nothing in the drive touches the CD surface itself, so the media does not wear out with use. Neither can a user inadvertently erase or alter data recorded on the CD.
Another benefit is standardization. CD drives can be found on the IBM and compatible PC's, the Macintosh.RTM. computer of Apple Corporation (Macintosh.RTM. is a registered trademark of Apple Corporation), and on the microcomputers and engineering work stations of Sun Microsystems, Inc., Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC), Unisys Corporation and many other manufacturers. If the CD is recorded using the industry standard ISO 9660 format then it can be read and used by all of these platforms. A "manufacturer" of data can produce a single CD which can be distributed to all platforms, reducing the costs for reproduction and distribution.
The CD market has been growing at an explosive 50% annual rate in the early 1990's. The mass market appeal of CD has generated a number of side effects which are of great benefit to the data processing industry.
These side effects include high volume cost erosion. Because CD drives are produced by the millions, the price of these drives has fallen below $200. Using technology developed for and perfected in the CD audio arena, CD drives for PCs benefit from the high volume production of laser heads and standard electronics. Furthermore these drives are faster than their predecessors yet are less costly due to the large quantities being manufactured.
These side effects include high volume product standardization. Because CD has become a high volume consumer product, manufacturers have been compelled to establish and maintain a set of standards to ensure that drives and media are fully interchangeable. The industry has produced these standards to ensure further growth and market penetration. Magneto optical (MO) and Write Once Read Many (WORM) optical discs have not yet achieved this level of standardization, and may never do so. Even in the area of 5 1/4 inch MO, where standards exist concerning the physical characteristics of the media, no standards exist for the way data is organized on the media. For this reason MO media written on one manufacturer's drive generally cannot be read on another manufacturer's equipment. Each manufacturer has decided on its own method of organizing data, and none wants to change to the method of another since no single manufacturer dominates the marketplace.
With all the standards in CD some of the industry terminology has not yet been standardized, in particular the appropriate designation for writable CDs. This technology is variously referred to as Compact Disc Write Once (CD-WO), Compact Disc Recordable (CD-R) and Compact Disc Writable (CD-W). These all designate the same product, merely reflecting a particular manufacturer's preference for terminology. This specification uses the acronyms CD and CD-W since they are so used by Kodak Corporation, one of the largest manufacturers of optical disk media. It is also interesting to note that the industry uses the term "disk" when referring to hard disk drives and floppy disk drives and media, but prefers "disc" when referring to compact disc equipment and media.
These side effects include high volume product acceptance. Because the number of drives and titles on CD is proliferating so rapidly, CD is considered as a required vehicle for distribution if a title or offering is to gain wide appeal. In the music business, a new offering is de facto distributed on CD, with tape or other distribution an alternate offering. In the print industry very large volumes, like telephone directories, reference books, and technical proceedings are commonly distributed on CD.
These effects have operated to make CD a viable mechanism for distributing business data throughout an enterprise. The latest advancements in CD technology now make it possible to make small quantities of CDs for data distribution: the CD-Writable (CD-W) technology. Just as the printing press made the printed word widely available and changed the distribution of ideas forever, so the CD has the potential for changing the manner of the distribution and use of data.
2.1.4 CD Standards
CD standards are "cast in colored concrete". CD technology is not new. The CD, first in the form of the CD-ROM, has been available for over a decade. What then explains the recent explosion in use and interest in CD for data distribution? The answer is standards.
Consider the FAX machine. Circa 1994 almost every business, and many homes, have a FAX machine. Although it had been possible to transmit data over telephone lines for many years, the FAX machine exploded on the marketplace when the industry settled on standard ways to communicate data between machines. This was accomplished by the CCITT standards. Once standards were established manufacturers could produce, and users could purchase, machines with assurance that one FAX machine could reliably communicate with any other FAX machine.
The International Organization for Standardization has issued International Standard 9660--referred to as ISO 9660--and titled "Information processing--Volume and file structure of CD-ROM for information interchange". The very title of this standard is instructive. Note that the standard defines how data are recorded on the CD, the structure of volumes and files, and that its purpose is to enable data interchange. Thus ISO 9660 is to CD-ROM what CCITT was to the FAX machine--the one standard which permits data to be reliably interchanged across platforms of multiple manufacturers.
The availability of equipment and standards allowed CD to reach a critical mass such that the normal forces of the marketplace began to drive it to success.
Because CD can be used for a variety of purposes--audio, data, combined audio and data, or video--a set of supporting standards have been devised to allow these formats. These standards are often referred to by color based on the color of the binder in which each was originally published. The Red Book defined the standards for audio discs. Music recorded under the Red Book standard will play in any CD audio player. The Yellow Book defined the physical characteristics of CD-ROMs to be used for data instead of audio. ISO 9660 completes the Yellow Book by specifying the volume and file structure on a Yellow Book disc. The Green Book defines CD-ROM for use in Compact Disc Interactive (CD-I) applications. The Green Book goes far beyond the CD media or player, defining the operating environment to be used for the complex interaction between the CD, the processing system, and the user.
2.1.5 Breaking the ROM Barrier
CD-ROM stands for Compact Disc Read Only Memory, indicating a medium which is read only where the user has no ability to alter or delete data on the disc. This media is created by the manufacturer through a process known as pressing, wherein the media surface is imprinted with the spiral groove in which the laser runs, and where tiny pits represent the data. The pressing process requires special equipment. Pressing is ideal where large numbers of the same CD are required, such as for software distribution or distribution of reference works such as encyclopedias.
The Compact Disc Writable (CD-W) is produced using a special disc formulation which can be written by the laser in a specially designed CD writer drive. Normal CD players cannot write on these CD-W discs, so once delivered to the user they can be considered as a CD-ROM. A CD-W disc can be distinguished from a pressed disc by the characteristic gold and green color of the CD-W versus the silver color of a CD-ROM. The green color of the CD-W is the result of the dye which is the recording layer. This dye is sensitive to the laser light emitted by the CD writer. The dye reacts to this laser light and allows the shiny gold surface to be exposed.
The exact nature of the CD-W medium is specified in the Orange Book. The Orange Book ensures that any manufacturer's CD writer will be able to write any manufacturer's CD-W mediums, and that the resulting mediums will be the equivalent of Yellow Book CD-ROM medium and thus will work in any manufacturer's drive. If the CD-W media is written in accordance with the ISO 9660 volume and file formats, then complete interchangeability is assured.
Once it became possible to write a CD rather than press it, it also became possible to append data to a partially written CD. The ISO 9660 standard does not permit such extension and most CD readers on the market could not read a disc to which data had been appended. To allow this feature in the future a standards committee is developing a set of standards which permit appending data. This work will incorporate ISO 9660 as well as other work intended to further broaden the applicability of CD.
With the availability of CD-W media, CD writers and standards, it is possible today to make "one of" CDs with the full benefit of CD technology but at greatly reduced costs.
2.1.6 ISO Formatting
The process of conforming data to the volume and file structures defined by the ISO 9660 standard is referred to herein as ISO formatting. ISO formatting software is employed to format the data in accordance with the standard, building each of the files and structures required to insure compatibility. When employed for pressing this process is sometimes referred to as pre-mastering, in that it produces a version of the CD which will then be pressed (mastered) onto all of the copies. ISO formatting software is available for use on a variety of platforms, from PCs to workstations to mainframes. The purpose of all of these applications is to insure that the data is properly structured for subsequent use.
2.1.7 Indexing
Indexing and ISO formatting should not be confused. Every CD must be formatted if it is to conform to the standards and be usable across platforms. Indexing provides a file or files which can be later used to locate specific data on the disc. This is generally useful since the disc can contain the equivalent of over 100,000 pages of text. These index files are laid down on the disc in conformance with the standard by the authoring application.
Indexing is accomplished by software applications which, like formatting, run on PCs, workstations and mainframes. The degree and depth of indexing varies according to the requirements of the data users. Some report items, such as bank statements, may require only a few key identifiers to complete a retrieval, for example the account number. Other items, such as this very specification, contain no specific identifiers (other than paragraph or chapter headings) and lend themselves to full text indexing. Full text indexing extracts every word and number from the report item and creates a pointer to it for later retrieval. Obviously full text indexing uses much more CD disc space to store the index data, and requires more processing power to extract the index information.
Because indexing is a report specific task, the degree and depth of indexing will vary depending on the nature of the report item and the needs of the users. Full text indexing provides maximum flexibility to the users at the expense of disc space and processing.
2.1.8 Writing CD-W
The drives that write CD-W mediums can operate at higher speed than normal CD players. Whereas a full CD can take up to 60 minutes to read completely, it can be written in half that time by a so called "2X" writer. Whether the CD is written at 1X, 2X, 6X or higher has no effect on the way it operates when placed in the user's CD player.
The system of the present invention will be seen to use 2X writers that can fill a CD in 30 minutes. Already the industry has advance models of faster writers, some at 4X and some at 6X. The architecture of the system of the present invention will be seen to be able to immediately accommodate these higher speed writers, increasing the throughput.
2.1.9 Benefits of Data Distribution on CDs
The PC revolution has changed forever the way that businesses use and relate to business data. But, with the processing power of a PC at many business desktops, the question remains, how should the business deliver its data to the users of such data (primarily its own employees)?
This question has been answered through a number of technological advances, each having a role to play. Each architecture attempts in its own way to deliver the user's data as efficiently as possible with reliability and useability. Advances have been achieved in client-server and distributed architectures with improved LAN performance and reliability.
CD-W makes it possible to deliver some or all business data through a cost-effective, convenient and compatible machine readable medium, as opposed to microfiche or paper. This data can exist on a single user's PC, or be accessed by several users through a program like Windows for Workgroups.RTM. (Windows, and Windows for Workgroups, are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation), or be accessed department-wide through a CD server. The benefits of this system of data delivery are several.
A first benefit is reliability. Data delivered on CD-W medium can be used by any PC equipped with a CD drive. If one PC is down, the data can be retrieved on any other PC. If a LAN is down, then each PC can operate independently. Because the CD-W medium is removable the system uptime can be assured.
A second benefit is compatibility. CD-W medium is written in accordance with international standards ensuring that any manufacturer's CD drive will reliably retrieve the data written thereon.
A third benefit is cost-effectiveness. CD-W medium costs less than $20, but can hold the equivalent data to over $400 worth of microfiche.
A fourth benefit is convenience. Data on CD can be read by a PC then processed or printed.
A fifth benefit is control. Data written on a CD can be restricted to only intended users. The present invention will show one effective manner of so controlling the distribution, and use, of data on CDs.
A sixth benefit is self-containment. CDs can be created which include not only the data, but everything required to view it or recreate it. If a specialized retrieval software is to be used with the data then it can be written with the data on every CD. Users need not worry years from now how they will view the old reports, the viewer is contained directly with them.
2.2 Reasonable Elements of CD Production and Distribution System
A system for distributing data on CD should logically and reasonably contain the following essential elements.
A CD creation element should perform the data gathering, indexing, formatting and writing functions.
A CD transport element would relocate the CD to the user's platform.
Finally, a CD retrieval element would permit the user to see and utilize the data on the CD.
The general criteria for these elements in a system to distribute voluminous business data on CDs are discussed in the following sub-sections.
2.2.1 The Creation Element
In order to create a CD all of the data to be written on the CD must be gathered together, appropriately processed (e.g. character set conversion from EBIDIC to ASCII and/or indexing), ISO formatted and written. Low-end, PC-based, solutions to this task are available in the marketplace. The present invention is concerned with the solution of certain challenges that are most important in a high-end, "industrial-strength", CD authoring and distribution system.
Writing the actual CD-W media is a function of the CD writer drive itself. Most writers today are 2X writers with roughly equivalent performance. The true differentiators among CD creation systems are 1) the number of writers which can be usefully employed, and 2) the time required to "get ready to write" (gather, process and author).
CD writers in general have a small internal cache memory through which data flows as it is being written. This cache is provided because the writer cannot be allowed to "run out of data" while a CD is being written. For this reason the entire CD is usually built in advance on a Winchester disk drive then copied to the writer without interruption. To support multiple writers one generally should provide both sufficient disk capacity to store a complete CD image for each writer and ensure adequate bandwidth to service all writers concurrently. Because of the expense of these large disk drives and the bandwidth to service them, most low end systems are equipped with only a single writer, or require that only one writer be active at any given time.
Notably, the data processing required to "get ready to write" can take far longer than the 30 minutes it takes a 2X writer to cut a full CD. Processing 650 megabytes of data is a significant task even for a powerful PC or workstation.
If only a few unique CDs need to made during each shift of a business then a low end CD creation system can fill the bill. If, however, the business needs to make tens or hundreds of unique CDs then a more robust solution is required.
2.2.2 The Transport Element
CDs can be transported for local and wide area distribution(s) through a variety of mechanisms, all of which are likely in place now for the transport of paper or film media. CDs may conveniently be transported by courier, by overnight express, by first class mail, by parcel post or parcel service, by interoffice van or by any other means conventionally used for the physical transport of business records.
2.2.3 The Retrieval Element
The user is generally most concerned about the retrieval element, since this is where "the rubber meets the road". In reality this is where most systems look different but behave the same. The look and feel of the retrieval screens varies from system to system, with some systems being more customized than others. In practice each of these retrieval systems must accomplish the same goal--to show the user the requested data promptly and easily.
Most business users are expected to access CDs in drives associated with IBM compatible PCs running Microsoft Windows (IBM is registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation and Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation). One crucial software element in this configuration is Microsoft CD-ROM Extensions (MSCDEX). MSCDEX was developed to provide a standard interface to CD-ROMs in the ISO 9660 format. It permits a CD to be accessed as a DOS drive by intercepting DOS file I/O commands made by an application, performing the equivalent command on the CD, and returning the resulting data. Most CD drives sold today include a copy of MSCDEX, or it can be obtained directly from Microsoft Corporation.
2.3 Particular Challenges of a Large-Scale CD Production and Distribution System
The present invention is concerned with solving problems that arise when a voluminous amount of computer information is repetitively periodically written and distributed in machine-readable digital symbolic, as opposed to human-readable iconic, form. The information may be, for example, the complete current depositor accounts of a large bank that has heretofore been distributed to branches of the bank each night on microfiche or microfilm.
The voluminous information is commonly written as multiple related sets of recordable and recorded medium where each set consists of multiple members that are related to each other as well as to corresponding members of other sets. The recordable and recorded medium is typically an optical disc, and is more typically a Compact Disc (CD) which, circa 1994, is more typically a Compact Disc-Writable, or CD-W. Each of a typically great number of CDs is initially, before writing, undifferentiated and unidentifiable one to the next save only for a permanent serial number marking, or "hub marking", that is visually detectable.
Even should a label subsequently be affixed to an individual CD, the amount of human-perceptible iconic, or alphanumeric information, that may reasonably be contained in such a label is small. Moreover, it is not particularly desirable, nor efficient, nor effective to have a human attempt to read the serial number marking and/or any label of a CD in order to maintain the organization and integrity of large sets of such CDs. It is better that machines, as opposed to humans, should, insofar as proves possible, maintain the organization and integrity of libraries of digital mediums.
At the same time that machine-based stewardship of libraries of computer-based, digital, information would seemingly be useful, much computer-based digital information is routinely printed to paper, microfiche of microfilm. Although, at first impression, it seems that this is primarily so that humans can, by subsequent visual reference to the printed media, gain access to the informational contents thereof, if becomes obvious that--when the price of computer readers of digital information keeps plummeting while the acres of expensive microfiche/microfilm continually repetitively printed with expensive Computer Output on Microfilm (COM) remains unread and ecologically burdensome--that there must be some dynamic behind the production of paper, microfiche, and microfilm other than people's desire to have direct visual access libraries of information such as financial records.
One dynamic that is likely causing a lot of digital, computer-based, efficiently symbolically-encoded (e.g., as ASCII characters) information to be inefficiently, expensively and seemingly quite unnecessarily reduced to iconic form (i.e., the alphanumeric characters) is the necessity of human control as "librarians" in the distribution and archiving of this information. In order to understand that many aspects of the process of data distribution on microfiche or microfilm are dependent upon human, as opposed to machine, perception, consider an exemplary production and distribution sequence. One, master, copy of each microfiche or microfilm frame of a set of such is computer-generated in, and by, a Computer Output on Microfilm (COM) equipment. The master microfiches or microfilms are subsequently photographically replicated to any desired numbers. Both the original, and all copies, typically contain appropriate identifying legends right in the film, and more typically at a scale that does not even require magnification to read (as does all other information on the microfiche/microfilm). A human typically (i) collates and organizes the microriches, or microfilms, in sets by reference to the visually perceptible appearance thereof, (ii) appends a human-perceptible paper address and packing list, and (iii) dispatches each assembled set to its corresponding listed address. When each set of microfiches, or microfilms, is received by the intended recipient thereof, then the completeness and contents of the set is normally verified (if desired) by visual reference to the contents thereof, and telephone or other communications may be made to secure the replacement(s) or return(s) of any missing or mis-directed set member(s). The human assembling the set makes visual reference thereto in the manner of a librarian at a central disbursing library. (The human receiving the set makes visual reference thereto in the manner of a librarian at a branch receiving library).
The records of the set are typically sequentially organized by some index, such as the depositor account number. The individual microfiches or microfilms of the received sets are subsequently referenced for data concerning an individual account by a human. The human visually discerns--possibly by reference to such sequence labels on the individual microfiches or microfilms as may by this time have become affixed or else simply by (magnified) visual observation of the accounts that are upon each successive microfiche or microfilm, and possibly with help of a printed paper index (which may or may not have been printed from any one of the microfiches or microfilms themselves)--which microfiche or microfilm contains the desired data. The human then visually acquires such data. In this manner the human again functions like a librarian, first in locating a proper volume by visual reference and then by reading the contents of the located volume.
The entire process of accessing a depositor account record at a branch of a bank from those records that are present at the bank branch seems to be, and is, something that could be efficiently and effectively performed by a modest computer resource, on the order of a personal computer or computerized teller station, if the accessed records were to be symbolically, digitally, encoded as opposed to being presented in iconic image form (whether full size on paper or of reduced size on film).
There are, however, some challenges to each of the (i) generation and (ii) distribution of records that are substantially purely machine-readable symbols, and that are substantially devoid of human-readable iconic information. These challenges are next discussed.
2.3.1 A Computer, Typically a Mainframe Computer, Will Be Occupied Overly Long in Communicating to Writer of Recordable Mediums all Such Information as is to Uniquely Be Written on Each Individual One of the Mediums, Even Though the Mediums Are Related As Sets
The recordable mediums, typically optical discs and more typically CDs and still more typically CD-Ws, onto which voluminous data for later distribution is written from a computer, and typically from mainframe computer, are each unique. Each disc must, for example, contain its unique identification and/or sequence number(s), if not also other information also such as the date and location of its writing. If many discs are to be written then the computer will be occupied overly long in communicating to a disc writer all such information as is to uniquely be written on each individual disc, even though the many discs may be related to each other as members of a set, and as sets.
2.3.2 During and After the Automated Writing of Large Numbers of Recordable and Recorded Mediums, the Mediums are Substantially Visually Undifferentiable and Undifferentiated
Some recordable medium, including optical discs and CDs and CD-Ws, are, as delivered into use by their manufacturer, undifferentiable and undifferentiated one to the next save only for a permanent serial number marking, herein called a "hub number", that is visually detectable. If a written disc is never to have any additional visually perceptible identity information affixed thereto than all subsequent references and directives to humans re: the particular disc, must identify the particular disc by its hub number. These hub numbers are long and unwieldy, as they must be to identify a particular one disc out of all of its type ever made or to be made. They are accordingly ill-suited both for (i) inclusion on human-perceptible printed labels, and (ii) communication to, or remembrance by, humans.
Humans can, however, generally understand and remember simple numbers like 1, 2,, 3, . . . N. If these numbers are to be affixed to the members of a set of discs then, other than printing or etching or somehow marking the discs themselves, it is commonly so accomplished by printing the number on a set of labels that are subsequently affixed to the members of the set of discs. However, the writing of discs and the printing of labels are two entirely different (but previously known) operations. Short of combining a disc writer and a label printer, which would be an awkward and arbitrary piece of equipment, the written discs must be transported in good order from the disc writer upon which they are written to a station where appropriate labels, printed off-line, may be suitably affixed to the discs.
Alas, there is potential complexity, and error, in even this straightforward process. Sometimes a physical disc will be defective, and, although appearing in the output stack, will be unwritten or defectively written. Often a substitute re-written disc appears next in line. Sometimes the writing process will be interrupted, or halted. Likewise, the production of the labels can incur irregularities. All these idiosyncracies can be correctly accounted for, and precision manual procedures and processes can suffice for the correct labeling of many hundreds of discs as are distributed across any scores of related sets.
However, it would be strongly desirable if an improved, positive, control could be effected for the correct labeling of large numbers of CD-Ws onto which voluminous data (for later distribution) is written from a computer.
Some thought will reveal that these challenges do not exist with paper and microfilm, which bear their own visually detectable identities. Neither does the problem beset computer software on magnetic disc and tape, videotapes, audio tapes and other items which, while replicated in great numbers, are commonly replicated but one unit at a time to produce large numbers of identical copies all of which take identical labels. Accordingly, the challenge of labeling control is related to the complex, multi-volume, sets in which large numbers of unique discs are produced. (This mode of production is, in turn, related to the efficiencies of writing data from a computer to a CD-W via a writer of CD-W.)
2.3.3 Multi-Volume Sets of Iconically-Recorded Paper and Microfiche/Microfilm Need Not Carry Any Index, and If They Do So Carry an Index Then It is Visually Perceptible; Whereas Indexed Reference to an Entire Set of Machine-Readable Discs is Problematic
Multi-volume sets of paper, microfiche and microfilm are recorded with iconic, alphanumeric, information. The information is typically recorded in order based on some sort of a parameter, such as the depositor account number for banking records. These multi-volume paper and film records need not, and typically do not, carry any index, meaning a table associating any, or each, physical volume of the multi-volume set with the range of the ordered records contained thereon. If these multi-volume paper or film records somehow do carry an index, then it is typically (i) so carried only in one place, typically at the beginning or end of the entire set like the index of a set of books, and (ii) visually perceptible.
Forebearing that a member of a multi-volume set of CDs or other machine-readable medium carries an adequate index upon the face of a visually perceptible label affixed to the member--and such CDs do not normally carry any such index on the label because any label is far too small--progress in locating some particular, indexed, content within a multi-volume set of machine-readable mediums can be challenging. Any particular contents can obviously ultimately be located by machine-reading different volumes--alternately of numbers both higher and lower than the targeted index range--until the appropriate individual one volume containing the sought-after information within an entire multi-volume set is located. If the number of volumes is less than ten, and if the searcher is clever, then this procedure of location by repetitive trial and error may be cumbersome, but is likely ultimately availing. If, however, the number of digitally-recorded, visually-imperceptible, discs within a set is many hundreds, or thousands, than it is clearly required that a human searcher should have some improved means of indexing the ordered information stored on the machine-readable discs in order to locate a particular one disk containing the sought-after information.
Notably, volumes within existing multi-volume sets of information--such as computer programs commonly recorded on magnetic disks--may have a pre-existing ordered identity. If, for example, if a disk "#5" is loaded at a time calling, for example, for a disk "#4", than the computer can recognize that the wrong disk has been inserted, and will call for the proper disk (i.e., disc "#4") to be loaded. The computer is not doing this by any search though any index located on disk #5 or elsewhere, but is, instead, simply calling out a predetermined sequence. Such sequencing is non-analogous to the indexing of the present invention.
2.3.4 Desirability of Positive Control of the Distribution of Multi-Volume Sets of Recordable and Recorded Mediums Without Visual Reference to any Minimally-Detectable Identities Thereof
Each disc or volume, of a multi-volume sets of recordable and recorded disc may have, in the form of a hub serial number and possibly also a label, only but such identity as is minimally visually perceptible, if, indeed, it is perceptible at all. Namely, all embedded, embossed, printed or otherwise perceptible iconic, alphanumeric, characters--if they even exist--may be extremely small, worn, or otherwise very difficult to read.
Minimal as the marked identity of a disc might be, such markings as are borne upon the physical disk could theoretically suffice to permit a human to visually ensure the completeness and contents of a set of discs in a like manner to the way that the same human may verify the completeness and contents of a multi-volume set of microfiches or microfilms, or a set of books. However, if the discs are numerous, the identity markings small, and the task tedious, then it is better to let a machine such as a computer perform this job. Moreover, it is the obvious trend that as objects holding information, such as CDs, get smaller and smaller the sophistication of the unique identities of these objects in all the wide world gets greater and greater, and the identifying information longer and longer. Accordingly, there comes a point where it is unavailing to let humans attempt to organize and maintain multi-volume sets of digital media.
Since a computer reading the CD of a set of CDs cannot know, a priori, which, if any, volume or volumes of a set is (are) missing--including potentially the first and/or the last volume--nor how many total volumes there are in the set, it is clear that the computer must be able to obtain some information from reading any volume, and/or so many volumes as there are, in order to make a valid determination of the correctness (or error), and the completeness (or incompleteness), of the set. Moreover, the computer would desirably usefully furnish a report (in digital form or otherwise) which, if supplied back to a (central) authority from which the set arose, could be correlated with other process information, such as that regarding the generation and distribution of the members of the set, so to detect anomalies and possible fraud or omission.
Such a report is especially useful if the (remotely-situated) party or organization that receives a disc, but in insufficient numbers of copies thereof, has the authority and capability to duplicate the disc that is in short supply, completing the required local inventory. If the duplicated disc has information, such as financial information, which could be manipulated for purposes of fraud, then it is clearly necessary that some sort of positive audit trail of the replication record, if not also a positive control of the replication process, should be maintained.
For example, if a valid disc of financial data was sidetracked so as to allegedly become "missing", and a if fraudulent copy of the missing disc was supplied to a bank teller at a branch bank, then the branch bank teller might be induced, by the records contained within the fraudulent disc, to disperse funds on an account for which the financial data was erroneous. Obviously this type of fraud can happen even at the present moment by unauthorized substitution of microfiche/microfilm or paper records. However, it would be desirable if a computer-based system could offer superior immunity to fraud.